New generation of GRANTA MI tools

Granta Design has announced the release of the GRANTA MI: Product Intelligence Package, a new suite of software and data that helps engineering enterprises optimize products while minimizing environmental, regulatory and supply chain risks.

The MI Product Intelligence Package runs on the GRANTA MI platform. Material information management software, MaterialUniverse, one of the many data modules available within GRANTA MI, provides property profiles for the full range of engineering materials and associated processes. Regularly updated data on restricted substances and the regulations that impact them (such as REACH) and on material supply risks are also available.

MI: Product Intelligence tools enable users to search and browse the data resource, apply it to parts within the CAD model or ‘Bill of Materials (BoM) that represents their product, and then run reporting calculations that apply the data to predict environmental impacts and flag potential regulatory or supply problems.

MI: BoM Analyzer is also the first software tool developed using a new ‘web client framework’ capability in the GRANT MI platform. This allows the rapid development of high quality, task focused, yet ‘lightweight’ applications that take advantage of both the full GRANTA MI infrastructure and the latest best practice in user interface design. Granta can apply this technology to quickly add new capabilities to the GRANTA MI toolset in response to specific customer needs.

Dr Patrick Coulter, Chief Operating Officer at Granta Design, commented: “MI: Product Intelligence is a step forward for Granta on two fronts. It helps our customers to apply the material intelligence developed through GRANTA MI to deliver better, greener, safer products. And, through our new BoM Analyzer, it has demonstrated an enhance capability to rapidly develop a new generation of GRANTA MI tools”.

Innovations that have enabled the release include:

• A new integrated ‘dashboard’ providing a single view of product performance against risk factors including: restricted substance content, lifecycle energy usage and CO₂ footprint, and supply chain risks.
• MI Materials Gateway 2.0, the second generation integration technology enabling materials applications to be embedded within CAD systems (Autodesk Inventor, CATIA, NX, Creo, and Pro/ENGINEER), CAD users will apply the new product intelligence tools to help optimize designs.
• MI: BoM Analyzer, a new easy to use web browser application that enables users to import and edit existing Bills of Materials, build new BoMs from scratch, assign materials and processes within those BoMs, and run reporting calculations. Design teams will use this application to test design concepts pre-CAS. Product stewardship teams will use it for fast analysis of in-production or ‘legacy’ BoMs, enabling them to identify and report on risks in their product portfolio.

Adapted from a press release by Emma McAleavey.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/product-news/30062014/granta_design_89/